On a foggy morning my brother Brian and my nephew Luke transport the fruits of the Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) to places along the flood plain where the seeds will be planted to develop a natural hedgerow/fence. We have dozens of these trees on our farm, and soon we'll begin seeing the deer and squirrels relying on them for food.
(Click on the photo for a larger image.)
Observing and reporting the phenology along the South Branch of the Potomac in Hampshire County, West Virginia.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
Leonid meteor shower tonight
The Leonid meteor shower will peak between sunset November 16th and dawn on the 17th. It will be visible in all timezones.
This is one of the brightest meteor showers of the year.
The Leonids (named from the constellation Leo, are associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle as Earth moves through its meteoroid stream of particles ejected as the comet's frozen gases evaporate under the heat of the Sun whenever it's anywhere closer than Jupiter. These tiny particles give off huge amounts of light when they impact Earth at over 70 km/s (that's 43 miles per SECOND).
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Milkweed along the South Branch
Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) along the South branch of the Potomac. Last year we began culturing milkweed for schools with butterfly programs.
Milkweed sap has toxins called cardiac glycosides. When the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and other milkweed butterflies (subfamily Danainae in the family Nymphalidae) ingest the leaves of milkweed, the glycosides make the caterpillar poisonous to some predators. Adult butterflies retain the glycosides.
This useful table was prepared by students in Fairfax County Public Schools:
Milkweed sap has toxins called cardiac glycosides. When the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and other milkweed butterflies (subfamily Danainae in the family Nymphalidae) ingest the leaves of milkweed, the glycosides make the caterpillar poisonous to some predators. Adult butterflies retain the glycosides.
This useful table was prepared by students in Fairfax County Public Schools:
Monday, November 5, 2012
Smithsonian Chestnuts
I took my dad, who maintains the Boyd American Chestnut nursery in Pennsylvania, to help winterize the Smithsonian Museum's nursery near Front Royal, Virginia. Other members of the team recorded individual tree data.
The Smithsonian interns got practice driving in four-wheel drive on side slopes.
The Smithsonian interns got practice driving in four-wheel drive on side slopes.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Training Young Trees
Structural pruning on young trees will prevent a lot of the storm damage in mature trees. Now University of California has a great on line video for home use.
Training Young Trees is simplified for home gardeners, but horticulture educators and green industry professionals can also benefit from this resource. The 18-minute video and its shorter chapters are available free at their YouTube Channel: http://tinyurl.com/ trainingyoungtrees.
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